In one of the first few episodes of ‘Storytime with Sammy Hagar,’ the Red Rocker shared the impact of his first musical influences on his journey in the industry. Hagar shared that although Mick Jagger and Keith Richards‘s star power had impressed him, Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck‘s musicality and playing styles impressed him more.
Hagar is not afraid to admit that he has had several influences throughout the years, from Elvis Presley to Pink Floyd. When he was determined to make it in the music industry, Jagger’s singing and Richards’ playing as a duo being massive stars on stage inspired his journey to finding his style.
However, once he heard ‘Truth’ from Steward and Beck, that changed the whole game for the musician as he was mesmerized by their talent and style, which had a deeper level of influence on his decisions about his choices in music.
Sammy Hagar’s words about his musical influences read:
“I’ve been influenced my whole life by other musicians and rockstars. When I was nobody, the first person to impress me was Elvis Presley; I was four or five years old, and I was like, ‘Wow, this dude got my sisters excited,’ you know? But when I started really thinking about playing music and singing, it was like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. I wanted to play guitar like Keith and sing like Mick. I was always the guy that sang and played guitar. I saw the two guys being the big stars and said, ‘I wanna be those guys but together.'”
He added:
“And then I saw Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck and the ‘Truth’ record, which had a huge influence on me, and I wanted to play like Jeff Beck and sing like Rod Stewart. And then along comes a guy like David Bowie and do something ‘Wow,’ and I got into glitter rock for fifteen minutes. And stuff didn’t work well walking down the street; it worked out good on stage, not in the streets.”
“But it still goes on today. Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Otis Redding, those guys have had more influence on my singing style than Mick Jagger and those guys. I wanted to be a blues singer. Everyone has influenced me, I mean right up to Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Stones, and The Who. Any great band has influenced me; I’m a sponge.”
There were many other names, such as David Bowie, James Brown, The Beatles, and The Who, amongst others, and he was ready to absorb different snippets of knowledge from every one of them. However, when it came to choosing to incorporate the inspiration into his music, names like Rod and Jeff were more up his street rather than Jagger or Richards. Can you hear any of his influences in Sammy’s tracks?
